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Swimfan
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 2002
Rated: PG-13
Film Length: 85 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1) and Full Frame (1.33:1) versions
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
His biggest fan just became his worst nightmare.
Ever watch a film and find yourself suddenly tuning
it all out to the point where the images playing out
before you suddenly become one constant blur? That
is probably the best way to describe my viewing of
Swimfan, perhaps the biggest "ho-hum" film of
the past year. It's nothing more than an overplayed
cliche of the worst thrillers of the last 10 years
that all start and end with the same exact scenarios.
You've seen it all before --- boy has girl but meets
new girl who seduces him. Boy wants nothing further
to do with new girl and goes back to old girl while
new girl begins stalking and eventually does whatever
it takes to get boy back.
In this scenario, the boy is Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford)
who is the high school's most promising swim star. He
is so happily attached to his perfect girlfriend, Amy
Miller (Shiri Appleby), that they are already starting
to plan their future together. Ben has everything
going for him, but he is about to lose it all. Enter
Madison Bell (Erika Christensen), a new girl in town
with looks that kill. Of course we all know what
happens next -- through a series of events, both Ben
and Madison have sex and that sets the stage for some
major pitfalls.
Very bad things begin happening in Ben's life. First,
he is kicked off the swim team for using steroids that
he swears he's never taken. Next, his best friend
runs into troubled times and all clues lead to Ben.
Finally, Ben is accused of endangering Amy's
life and putting her in the hospital. Ben suspects
that Madison is behind all of these incidents and
sets out to set things straight before she further
ruins his life.
This movie is a pale reworking of Adrian Lyn's 1987
well-known thriller Fatal Attraction, obviously
geared towards teens who perhaps have not seen this
type of formula done many times before. The script
by Charles Bohl and Phillip Schneider is so predictable
that you can pretty much guess the next manner in
which Madison is going to wreak havoc.
How is the transfer?
The transfer here is up to the usual high standards
of what Fox Home Video is known for. Often filmed
with blue and green filters, the film often seems
to be a little on the dark side. Images also tend
to be a tad soft, though well detailed. Colors are
perfectly saturated and there is no background grain
or noise. Highly acceptable transfer fer sure!
Don't expect much out of the film's 5.1 surround
mix. Most of the audio stays in the front three
channels that provide excellent stereo separation,
with the rears only providing a few ambient effect
noises. Even the film's featured rock music by
groups like Pacifier and Sevendust only send reverbed
echo to the rear channels.
Special features
Fox has released Swimfan on a dual-layered
DVD with both a widescreen and full-frame transfer.
While I applaud this effort, it does present a bit
of a hassle in watching the supplements that are
spread across both sides.
There's a full-length commentary with director
John Polson, Jesse Bradford and Erika Christensen.
The three seem to play well off each other and
there are various bits of information I picked up
while sampling it. Erika actually played the cello,
taking a crash course shortly before filming began.
The movie was lensed in and around Manhattan.
Polson takes this commentary more seriously, often
straying into technical discussion while Erika
and Jesse kind of tease each other about their
individual performances. I was quite surprised by
how lively this commentary comes across - certainly
moreso than the film itself.
There are ten deleted scenes, most of which
are extensions of existing scenes. They really don't
add much substance to the film, except for the very
last scene that features Ben's dog that really should
have been left in for its shock value. The quality
of the scenes are not in finished form, and are also
not presented anamorphic. You can opt to play these
scenes with commentary by director John Polson.
The girlfriend from hell featurette brings
cast and crew together in this "fluff" piece that
is basically filled with interviews, character
descriptions and lots of film clips. Some of you
may be most interested in hearing Jesse and Erika
talk about their very first "intense" sex scene.
Nothing above average here except the unusual below
average video quality of the presentation.
(length: approx. 10 minutes)
I was surprised to find that Fox didn't include
the film's original theatrical trailer, but did
include the trailer for 28 Days Later.
I also applaud the studio for putting an anti-drug
spot at the beginning of this DVD.
Final Thoughts
It's obvious that Swimfan is trying its
hardest to be a Fatal Attraction for teen
audiences. I'm a little bothered by that - after
all, do we really need to be sending this kind of
message out to that age group?
Nothing to be considered here beyond a possible
rental.
Release Date: March 11, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
